Toxic, Depressing, Unsustainable. STAY AWAY - Current Employeee Protolabs Employee Review

1.0
Feb 9, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Remote flexibility, support for career development before 2024, great employees that ain't managers or directors

Cons

Executive directors and shareholders somehow transformed what used to be a welcoming, efficient and encouraging company into a toxic, depressing and unstable corporate business. This place used to be a lot of fun with supportive (now former) managers who actually lead and empower their teams, but the updated executive "leadership" team, corrupted "human resources" directors who hate people and break women, and all of the new appointed senior directors in many departments have ruined the morale by creating an unsustainable environment, where you are forced to be excited to come work 80 hours a week, or they will find a way to destroy your soul and force you to quit, or be fired so they can replace you with yes-men for less money. They will also fire you in any given moment, not because of performances, but for sudden initiatives to fund tens of millions of dollars for "strategy plans", such as outsourcing services to India, which is not a coincidence that the new CEO is Indian... but also many other random excuses they come up with... all to kiss the boots of the shareholders.

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Protolabs Response
3mo
Actually - I am a human. Not a robot! I am happy to have a conversation and discuss your feedback to clarify some of your questions, and listen to your feedback. We are proud of our employees and the work they are doing. We are excited about our future and the continuing the success from 2025 into 2026 and beyond! You can reach out at talentaquisition@protolabs.com for any additional conversation that you would like to have.

Explore other reviews about Protolabs

5.0
May 5, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great culture and feel. Best job in my career so far

Cons

The pay could be a bit more competitive

1.0
Mar 31, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Used to be great company with great culture and flexibility

Cons

New CEO Surresh has come in and completely destroyed the company culture that made Protolabs a great place to work at and was often awarded as such. Every meeting is coated in anxiety and the impending doom of layoffs despite record profits. In January a RTO was announced and there has been no flexibility and a straight up refusal to provide ADA accommodations to disabled employees by the HR department. They have taken away the flexibility that they used to provide to working parents that allowed them to work in office after/before their kids go to school despite not paying a living wage that would allow them to afford additional childcare. They have also chosen to make it even more difficult for employees to even receive a meets standards on their reviews as a cruel attempt to ensure they don’t have to give reasonable raises (which are rarely above 3% as is and they don’t provide market adjustments.) It’s unrecognizable from the company it used to be. They underpay, overwork, and expect the world of their employees while refusing to treat them with respect.

6
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